BETWEEN TWO STEPS

A pleasant little stop-gap disc between albums for Neo Prog band Knight Area, `Between Two Spaces' is comprised of some radio edits, re-recordings made to highlight the addition of a new guitarist and bass player, and unreleased tracks, and it makes for an ideal 5 track introduction for new listeners of this great band. I have quite a lot of time and love for the group, their 2007 album `Under A New Sign' being one of my favourite modern Neo albums, an endlessly melodic near 5 star classic to my ears, with the follow-ups' `Realm of Shadows' and `Nine Paths' also keeping up the high standard. This disc is an inexpensive way to sample the work of the band for newcomers, as well as a pleasing collection of tunes to enjoy as a background listen for everyone else.

With a riff-heavy opening and middle, `Bubble' is a poppy blast that still shows the band playing in the heavier end of Neo Prog without ever being hard enough to be confused for metal. A pleasing chorus, aggressive thick chunky bass and an up-tempo whirling synth solo in the final minute that will have you smiling as soon as it hits! Punchy, direct and catchy, the melody even recalls some of Glass Hammer's more joyous pop moments. `Forever Now' is a dashing call to arms, a frantic rocker overloaded with spiky time-changes and an exhausting variety of schizophrenic instrumental flourishes considering it's barely four minute running time. `This Day' is a soothing AOR ballad highlighted with gentle floating synths and a grand heartfelt extended guitar solo. `Dreamweaver' have been given a crunchier heavy 80's hard rock sound, the synths and bass sounding closer to German proggers Eloy, the vocals now have a glossier makeover and there's some nice tip-toeing suspenseful piano. `Xerenity' is a stirring and uplifting guitar-led instrumental to end the disc on, not unlike some of the more positive Pendragon flights, although at two minutes it's far too short!

Don't worry about the short 23 minute running time of this one, as the Neo genre has numerous small gems with a reduced length that still stand up as nice surprises in their own right - Pendragon's `Fly High Fall Far' and the two Arena releases `Contagious' and `Contagium' instantly come to mind. This great little EP will hopefully encourage listeners will look into any of the wonderful bigger and better proper full-length albums from this great Neo Prog band, and it also promises more exciting work to come from the rejuvenated line up.

Three stars.

This EP was released some time before the Hyperdrive album, maybe a way to introduce the new band members (guitarist Mark Bogert and bassist Peter Vink, a veteran of the dutch rock scene since the 60´s), and their new sound, to the fans. It has only five tracks, and two a re-recordings: Forever Now (from `The Sun Also Rises' ) and Dreamweaver (from `Under A New Sign'). Of the new stuff two are radio edits for future tracks from Hyperdrive: Bubble and the ballad This Day. The short instrumental Xerenity rounds up the material.

The re-recordings are ok, they don´t differ too much from their original versions, except for the slightly louder guitar and bass parts. This and Bubble hint the new direction towards a more hard rock sound, but not much. This Day could be in any of their earlier stuff, so I guess if I had listened to Between Two Steps before Hyperdrive I would have no clue that they would change their original symphonic neo prog sound that much. Even the only new track that did not made to the next CD, Xerenity, is quite the same style as before. A pity that it is so short (barely over the two minute mark).

Rather than a taster for their new sound, Between Two Steps is more like a sad goodbye to their golden years.

Rating: 2,5 stars.